Vikings will privately work out 8 or 9 QBs

Minnesota would ‘love’ to trade back

INDIANAPOLIS – Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman tends to dance around questions about his roster plans, but he was direct Thursday about the most important position.

The Vikings want to draft a quarterback, Spielman told a small group of reporters, and the team already has tabbed eight or nine QBs for private workouts between now and May 8.

“The idea would be great to have a veteran, a Christian Ponder and a young rookie to come and let them go out there and see how things evolve,” Spielman said. “If the rookie doesn’t have to play, it’s a great advantage for those guys to sit and learn for a year until they’re absolutely ready.”

Spielman has been down this road before. He used the No. 12 overall pick in the 2011 draft on Ponder, whose strong finish during the Vikings’ 2012 playoff season didn’t carry over to a 2013 season in which Ponder lost the starting job.

Complicating matters is the quarterback who finished the season as the starter, Matt Cassel, voided the last year of his contract this month. The Vikings still hope to re-sign Cassel, whose agent was scheduled to meet with Spielman on Thursday, but are examining their options.

That may not include using the No. 8 overall pick on a QB, with Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater and Central Florida’s Blake Bortles widely considered the top prospects. Spielman said he’d “love” to trade back and has a history of moving frequently on draft day.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of depth in this quarterback class, where you don’t have to take one at eight,” Spielman said referring, to the Vikings’ top draft pick. “We’re not going to force the issue, I can tell you that.”

For now, Ponder is the only quarterback under contract beyond the start of free agency March 11. Spielman wouldn’t close the door on re-signing Josh Freeman, who seems almost certain to land elsewhere after last year’s experiment.